1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the provision of communications services using terminal devices that include computing devices connected to packet-switched communications networks.
2. Discussion of the Background
Users of personal computers (PCs) and other general purpose digital computing devices have been able to engage in voice communications using these devices for many years. One example of software for enabling PC-to-PC communication over the Internet is the SpeakFreely shareware which has been available since 1991. More recently, refined commercial grade products have emerged such as those offered by VocalTec, Net2Phone, Netspeak, and many others. By utilizing the Internet or other packet switched networks, such products have given rise to convergent voice and data solutions as well as created the potential for commercial applications in the realm of e-commerce.
The assignee of the present application, eStara Inc., has addressed some of the limitations of these solutions by inventing methods for installing and initializing media applications using a “thin client” model. These methods are described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/272,139, entitled “Public Web Phone System,” 09/637,805, entitled “Universal Internet Based Telephony System That Provides Ubiquitous Access For Subscribers From Any Terminal Device,” and 09/771,993, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,707,811, issued Mar. 16, 2004, entitled “Internet Telephony for e-Commerce.” The contents of each of these applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference. These methods and processes created a particular opportunity for enabling end users to make contact with call centers operated by merchants associated with a web site by clicking on icons displayed on web pages. In particular, when such an icon is clicked, an Internet telephony call between the end user (using their terminal as an Internet phone) and a call center agent is established without requiring the end user to have any Internet telephony software previously installed on their terminal, all the while allowing the end user to remain on the merchant's web page from which the call was initiated. The resulting voice connections link an end user and a call center agent who may be using either a telephone or a voice-over-Internet enabled computer device.
One of the obvious problems in providing voice connections to link PC users to call center agents is providing caller identification in a mixed telecommunications environment, where the caller is using an Internet based or packet switched network and the call center agent is equipped with a telephone device attached to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and a computing device that provides automated support for order entry, customer service, or other processes. These call centers use sophisticated call management and customer relationship management systems that display key information about the customer's history, buying preferences, and purchasing behavior. In order for these systems to function, it is necessary to identify the customer making the incoming call. As is well known in the art, call centers often use information such as the ANI (automatic number identification), DNIS (dialed number identification service), or callerID™ to identify an incoming call. This allows the call center to display “screen pops” that enable the call center agent to exploit telephone caller identification information to pull up customized screens that include scripts for the agent.
When an end user makes an Internet telephony call to a call center, a PSTN gateway is necessarily involved. A PSTN gateway is a device that bridges a call from a packet switched network such as the Internet to a circuit switched network such as the PSTN. This scenario creates a problem for the call center because the identifying information (ANI, DNIS, or callerID) received at the call center identifies the PSTN gateway rather than the customer. In order to perform the screen pop in conventional systems, the call center agent must then ask the customer for identifying information (e.g., name, phone number or account number). This is problematic for two reasons: first, it may be annoying to some customers; and second, it takes time to ask for, receive, and key in this information.
One proposed solution to this problem, described in a European patent application filed by Lucent Technologies (EP 0,843,454), is to have the Internet-based callers enter information in a dialogue box at the time they initiate a call and to pass this information through the PSTN using the call setup fields within the signaling system. This approach enables the call center systems to provide a “screen pop” at the outset of the voice conversation, but it may require redundant data entry on the part of a caller who may already be logged into a merchant's call site. Thus, this proposed solution solves one of the aforementioned problems (time wasted by the call center agent in asking for, receiving, and entering customer identification information), but does not address the second problem (customer annoyance at having to enter identification information).
What is needed is an automatic method for identifying a customer making an Internet telephony call to a call center.
Another problem common in e-commerce interactions between customers or prospects and call center agents is a desire to share text, multimedia, or graphical data in addition to the voice interaction. There are a variety of well-known methods for “pushing” data or for “co-browsing” by two or more web users, but all of these methods depend on having a known IP address or universal resource locator (URL) for all parties to the interactive session. In the case of a mixed telephony environment as described above, an Internet telephony service may not be able to identify which call center computing device is associated with which telephone conversation. This is especially true when calls are distributed by an automated call distribution device attached to the public switched network that does not communicate with other call center systems (such as customer relationship management software). What is needed is a method whereby data can be shared between an end user terminal and a call center agent terminal when the call center agent's terminal data packet network address is not known to the end user terminal and the end user terminal's data packet network address is not known to the call center agent's terminal.
Some call centers do not have automated systems attached to the world wide web, but still may wish to “push” web content to callers who are connected to the web. What is needed is a simple method for such a party to push web content to such callers.